


Light a fire

by Eternity_love



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Eventual Smut, M/M, powerau
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-18
Updated: 2019-12-30
Packaged: 2021-02-26 10:02:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 4,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21847891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eternity_love/pseuds/Eternity_love
Summary: Just wanted to try posting this here!Read to find out.
Relationships: Byun Baekhyun/Park Chanyeol
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7





	1. Chapter 1

Fireflies

He ran to catch up to them but they are indeed faster.

With their small wings, they could easily avoid his hands that were grabbing for them.

He jumped and tipped on his toes but it was futile.

He was panting out of breath, inhaling deep breaths of cold air into his lungs.

He looked up onto the sky.

The fireflies in the sky seemed to be gathering, leaving to somewhere else.

But where?

He now resorted into walking to keep up with the little sky lights.

They kept on for a few minutes until they reached the end of the woods.

They were now on a field of grass that reached so far his eyes could see.

He observed the fireflies as they were dancing in pairs.

The lights were going out one by one, perhaps they too needed to rest.

As it went darker and darker Baekhyun thought of his mother’s warning about what was said to be lurking in between the tree lines.

She had told him of the spirits residing in the outskirts of the village. They were living in the forest protecting it from mankind’s destruction.

Some were tall and slim others short and chubby with a desire to devour whoever they saw unfit to enter their wilderness.

He couldn’t see anything by now.

Exhaustion won him over in no time, making him decide to stay in the lone forest through the whole night, he tried to shield himself from the winter cold, the trees keeping the wind out.

Not daring to walk further into the deep woods he settled down next to the trees, laid beneath bushes and using their leaves as a shield from the chilling breeze. He would've loved to rest in his mother's embrace once more.

That would never be possible, only in his dreams as the earth had taken her away a year ago. How was he to survive on his own, when not even the fireflies would be at his aid.

Bringing his petite hands together as he spoke out a prayer he had learned from hearing it repetitive times, every time his mother prayed for a brighter future.

“Day as well as night may the goddess of light once smile upon me, as I seek her light of life, for I am her child, child of light.”

His brows frowned in concentration as he repeated those words over and over. After what seemed like hours of praying, the comfort of the goddess presence graced him as the feeling of heat caught on his skin sending him of to sleep.


	2. Light a fire

He cried when he awoke in the morning. The realization that he was entirely on his own had settled in, eventually he pushed the thoughts of his family away. He couldn't bare to think about it any longer than that or he would be sure to have a meltdown.

Checking out his location, completely surrounded by identical trees - tall, brown bark and green pines. Some sort of conifer trees. Fallen leaves in any color from brown, yellow to red were scattered over the ground.

A sign of autumn.

The leaves cracked when they crumbled under his feet as he stepped on them, the sound itself gave a feeling of nostalgia for something he didn't know. As he looked up he could see the sunshine In between the small gaps of the pines, as if peeking through to show him the path just like the fireflies, just like the goddess had done for him.

He sped up his pace, scared of darkness of the night coming once again.  
He followed the path in the direction of where the sun shone the brightest. For how long would he withstand? He had no food nor water. His only source of hope laid in his belief of the goddess protection of him. He continued walking and begun climbing a small hill once deemed there was no way of going around it.

Once on top of the hill he had a better lookout of the forest and anywhere he looked there was just more trees, it had no end. But he then saw something that got his interest, a cottage that laid just a bit further bellow the hill.

Finding his footing on the stones, he managed to climb down the hill. Upon being within a few meters from the cottage he spotted a well, he prayed for it to contain drinkable water. He let the bucket drop into the well, he heard the splash of water and so he pulled the bucket up with a rope.  
Nothing beats the thirst like fresh cold water. The water he drank directly out of the bucket, relived to having quenched his thirst he thanked the goddess before turning to enter the cottage.

He hesitated at the door, the cottage didn't looked abandoned. The thought of someone living there made him filled with both fear and hope. He needed help as he was lost but what kind of person would live alone in cottage, not a sane person without doubt.

Gathering courage he raised his hand and let his knuckles collide with the door, tree gentle knocks. He waited. Since he got no response he tried the door handle. Locked, "dang it" he thought. He went to check the windows. Looking inside he saw how cozily decorated it was, it looked neat, there's even a fireplace.

All the windows were closed but one of them were left unlocked, perhaps he could budge it open. He grabbed the edge on the window's underside, using his nails to drag it open. Once opened he pulled himself up, placing his foot on the window sill and then the other foot. Just like that he was in.

He firstly had a tour inside the cottage making sure he was alone. The he felt safe enough to snoop around. He made his way to the kitchen to open all the cupboards and then the fridge. He had grabbed every item that pleased his eyes which was anything and everything sweet and sugary.

The fact that he was intruding on someone's property, he couldn't care less about in the moment.

Once he sat on the soft cushion of the armchair of the living room sufficiently with a tv right in front, with all possible channels available. A pile of cookies, berries and chocolate in his arms, Baekhyun felt right at home.


	3. Light a fire

Time passed quickly with Baekhyun's eyes on the tv screen, looking at the cartoon character skipping away on their voyage when he started feeling sleepy. He stood up and took the rests of the sweets to put them back in the cupboards. When he had done so he saw out the kitchen window. In the pitch darkness he saw a light, not his blaze, this was more alike a flame. A flame.

He caught the blaze from the light, now everywhere was darkness except for that flame that was creeping closer. Panic strikes him, someone was here. He had ducked down as low as possible, he roamed around blindly with his hands to find a hiding place. He had made his way into the owners bedroom having no luck so far in finding somewhere to hide and in panicked state he had opted for the most obvious place, under the bed. Just as he got under, the front door was unlocked and opened. The fear he felt was surreal, he couldn't handle the thought that he was going to die, he didn't want to, he wasn't ready. 'oh, goddess of light, spare me from pain.'

The steps entered the cottage, the thing walked straight ahead, with one goal in mind as if aware of his presence. He never stopped his prayers, it would be futile to try to fight. Baekhyun as innocent as he was thought that if it wasn't meant to happen the goddess of light would be his salvation. The thing had stopped now, directly in front of the bed, a mere step away from him. His eyes were closed tightly, his prayers still repeating in a mantra of desperation.

".....Tn...o...he..ight ...."

Something was said into the thin air, what he did not know. It sounded as if he was under water, all sound dulled out, in the haze of his mind he couldn't bring himself to process the words. Paralyzed he waited for another sound.

"Turn on the light." A deep voice muttered.

It was audible now. Without realizing it, as if under a spell, he had acted on his own, his dazzling light shone up the cottage again.

"Thank you, come on out once you've calmed down."

With that the man left the room.

He had obeyed what had been said, after what felt like an hour he could finally breathe normally again and after taking a few deep breaths his tense body slowly relaxed a bit. As if his body wasn't his own, controlled by the other's command, without thinking he crawled out from underneath the bed. Surprisingly with his still shaken nerves he was able to stand and walk out the bedroom. He saw the man laying on the living room sofa, looked to be asleep. Though as the floorboards made a creaking sound under Baekhyun's feet, the man sat straight up, eyes locked on to him. After minutes of either of them saying anything Baekhyun wiled his body to bow down in an attempt to utter some sort of apology.

"I-I apologize for breaking into your home, I swear I'm not a burglar nor did I intend to cause any harm.... an-and I can pay you back for the food."

Pink blemish of embarrassment crept on to Baekhyun's cheeks as he continued to ramble.

"I've wandered from a village up north, right under "Yumkka" mountain. I will be right on my way after I've paid you back and the I won't ever bother you again."

*please, please let me go* Baekhyun was scared out of his wits. A boy like him would never stand a chance against the taller man, if he decided to make it off with him. Must be easy to get away with anything in these woods, it's almost completely abandoned, except for this man, Baekhyun has never seen anyone in the area besides the people of his village.

A small exhale paused his running thoughts.

The man was ready to say something.

"You won't make it outside."


	4. Light a fire

"You won't make it outside."

Baekhyun didn't dare to ask how he should interpret what was said, unsure what kind of answer he would get. So he didn't say anything. With time, he surely would receive a response from the man. The man swung his right hand as a gesture towards the living room window.

"it's a horrid storm outside, you won't survive the night out." He grumbled as he rubbed away crust from both his eyes. True to his words, as Baekhyun looked out the window all he saw through the darkness was the familiar white flakes soaring together with the soaring forceful wind.

"Snow? But it is only the beginning of October."

"Mmh, who knows, maybe something wanted to keep you here." The other man spoke up.

"Then?..." His question ended swiftly.

"You'll have to stay the night, I won't kick you out." The man broadly smiled to showcase friendliness, however Baekhyun wasn't able to tell if it was sincere or not.

"I can't bare to prolong my stay any longer." Baekhyun whispered out his thought.

The man lifted himself of from the soft cushion of the sofa.

The man was indeed tall, Baekhyun observed.

"Being brutally honest here, you'll die outside, you will freeze to death."

And those ears, It's no wonder he hears every single whisper with those, Baekhyun further thought.

"In conclusion, you have no choice but to stay." As he finished speaking he took a step towards Baekhyun making him in return take a step backwards, not wanting to close his distance to the tall man.

"You don't have to be afraid, I'm completely harmless, see?" Chanyeol held his hands up and kneeled down on the floor, surprising Baekhyun. "My name is Chanyeol, you can touch my hair, if you'd like." Baekhyun stayed rooted in place. "Touch your hair..?" The man, Chanyeol reached both his hands to the back of his head, he removed a hair band. Chanyeol's golden hair fell down on his shoulders, giving him an appearance alike a fairy, especially with those ears sticking out from the sides.

"It's pretty." Baekhyun mumbled out.

"I just thought if you had the chance to touch me, you would be less afraid of me." Chanyeol said with a touch of reddish colour on the tips of his ears.

"Okay" Baekhyun stated.

"Okay?" Chanyeol stated back.

"Yes, okay"

Baekhyun took many teeny tiny steps up to Chanyeol.

When close enough he bent his knees, stretched his hand out to feel the golden locks.

It felt soft and silky, it was nice to the touch.Baekhyun peeked at Chanyeol's face to see he had closed his eyes, and so he could take a good close up look at his face. This man didn't look terrifying in the least, in fact he looked silly. Silly but pretty. His body was muscular and broad, don't forget the height of the man. Baekhyun's hand accidentally nudged Chanyeol's cheek. It was warm. Baekhyun moved his hand away, not wanting to overstep his boundaries.

Chanyeol opened his eyes only to smile at him.

"See, not scary right?"

Baekhyun shook his head sideways.

No not scary, not scary at all.

Chanyeol rose up from the floor, surprising Baekhyun, again, his damned height.

"I could warm a cup of coffee? Chocolate? Tea? Which would you prefer?"

"Oh umm, hot chocolate then please". Baekhyun felt shy. Having robbed his food then being offered more.

"Aight".

*Chanyeol seems to be a very nice person but the flame I saw...*


	5. Light a fire

"I would like to know your name".

They sat on each side of Chanyeol's dinning table, both with hot chocolate topped with marshmallows in their hands.

"Oh, right, I'm Baekhyun, and as you know I'm from the village up north".

"Baekhyun huh, there's a nice ring to it. That leads to my next question. How did a boy from a secluded village up north end up down here by my house? Are you out on an errand?"

"Uhh, I guess you can say that, it's a tradition".

Baekhyun wanted to change the topic as it was emotionally sensitive for him to talk or think about it. He didn't feel like crying in front of Chanyeol, he has already embarrassed himself as it is and he didn't want any pity. Baekhyun just wanted to forget everything. Forget his life up until now, forget his childhood and everyone in it. He needed to start over, he needed a new lifestyle. Luckily Chanyeol dropped it and no more questions were asked that evening.

After drinking up their hot chocolate Chanyeol left to have a shower before bedtime and so Baekhyun was left alone in the kitchen to think out a strategy for the morning, how would he find his way into town, how would he survive the next couple of days before reaching the town and so on. Chanyeol was also left think on his own under the hot steaming shower rain. Was he crazy for letting a stranger into his cottage? No way, anyone would let a cutie like Baekhyun stay over, right? Though what would his parents think of it, he does not like to lie especially to his mom but this time it might be better not to tell them, no matter the circumstances. After he finished washing out the shampoo, he then stepped out the shower to dress himself up in a simple tee and slacks for bed. With his hair wrapped up in a towel he stepped out the bathroom.

*Now to solve the bedding problem* he thought.

"Baekhyun!" He called out for the boy as he walked toward the kitchen. He got no response and the kitchen was found bacon-less and so was the living room.

Upon reaching his bedroom door, soft breathing could be heard from inside. When he peaked into the room Baekhyun could be seen, laying curled up on his bed, mouth slightly open for the soft puppy like whimpers to come out. Drool running down along the way, from his bottom lip into the fluffy plaid he had draped himself in, resembling a deliciously stuffed sandwich wrap. The sight felt heartwarming and the feeling of wanting to protect sept into Chanyeol's mind.

After thinking it over he decided to take place next to the boy. He had no extra bed and his body much preferred his "oversized" bed over that slim couch. He only hoped the boy wouldn't find it to be intrusive. He was after all the one who invaded his home, food and now his bed. After spending mere hours together, Chanyeol already felt a connection to the shorter boy. He hoped the storm would last even if just a bit longer, otherwise the boy would already be gone at daybreak and then they might never see each other again. They had much to discuss in the morning.

Carefully he lifted Baekhyun up, facing straight from the headboard down, placing his head comfortably on a pillow. Chanyeol then went over to crawl down under the plaid, on the left side of the sleeping boy.He spent the next few seconds observing Baekhyun's sleeping habits, how calm he looked to be, how Baekhyun's chest heaved up and down, over and over in time with the small exhales left another whimper. Baekhyun's little whimpers eventually came to a stop and that's when Chanyeol's eyelids closed, his overactive, anxious brain for once was able to shut off, his legs had ended up conjoined with Baekhyun's . Finally he drifted off, joining Baekhyun in a deep sleep of heavenly dreams.

Chanyeol awoke only to find himself wanting more sleep. He hadn't had such a good rest in a long time but he had things to do and Baekhyun must be craving breakfast right now. His clock on the nightstand read 10AM.He thought that only to see the boy next to him till sleeping soundly. For once maybe work could wait, yes it could wait...


	6. Chapter 6

Next time he turned his head to look at the clock it was 12 AM, now it's definitely time to get up. Chanyeol stumbled up when he realized his guest wasn't beside him anymore. Once he opened his bedroom door he was greeted with a pleasant smell of food being prepared for breakfast. When he was closer to the kitchen he heard soft humming, a tune he wasn't familiar with. He now faced the adorable sight of Baekhyun by the stove, wagging side to side to the rhythm of the melody. The sight was too adorable to look away from. Unbeknown to him Baekhyun was aware of him stepping into the kitchen, he was simply playing ignorant.

*Is he going to say something or just stand around like a dork? * Baekhyun thought.

Feeling a bit self-conscious of being stared at, he cleared his throat then spoke up. "Good morning." he cranked his head to look at Chanyeol as he said so. For Baekhyun it was obvious the other man was flustered as he stuttered out a "M-morning." Chanyeol felt stupid for being indirectly called out for staring but how could he not. The boy had the potential of becoming a singer or maybe that was just in Chanyeol's biased mind. Baekhyun was a soft boy, Chanyeol was weak for soft boys.

"Sorry for using your food once again." He let out a small laugh. "I just thought I'd make breakfast for us both, hope you don't mind?" Chanyeol didn't mind at all. "No, I'm glad you feel at home, what's mine is yours." He was seriously too kind. "Can I help you out?" "No I'm already done, you can sit down." Baekhyun smiled at him. Chanyeol took milk and sugar with him to the table. Everything else was served by Baekhyun, to the defense of Chanyeol he was forced to sit down. Baekhyun insisted on pampering him for whatever reason Chanyeol didn't know. It felt strange being pampered on.

Chanyeol was used to giving others, never has it been the opposite.

"Thank you." Was all he could think to say. "We both know I should be the one thanking you." Baekhyun brushed it off not knowing how the small kind gestures he did affected Chanyeol's very being. As they began digging into the food Chanyeol immediately kept handing out compliments as if Baekhyun was a professional cook, which he of course wasn't. It was fried rice, nothing more. Despite all that Baekhyun gratefully accepted every single compliment he received. It had been too long since anyone appreciated him for anything he was or anything he did. His self esteem has been on the rock bottom for the past three years. It felt good to be seen, heard and understood. Chanyeol gave him what he had been missing, what he had been longing for. Someone who cared for him.

They now sat in silence, both trapped inside their happy bubble. Just for a moment they felt fully content with their lives. It was a peaceful moment. Time had past with the wind and the storm had cleared overnight. The happy bubble had to be popped eventually either way and perhaps it would be best to do so now. After having processed their thoughts Chanyeol popped the first question.

"Do you need to go today?"

"What else would I do?"

"Stay?"

"Oh, Wouldn't you want me to?" Baekhyun stated sarcastically.

"Yes, I would." Was his firm response which took Baekhyun aback, his eyebrows pushed into a frown.

"But why?"

"You see, these woods get quite lonely not to mention how cold it is at night." Chanyeol was being overly dramatic. One of his many quirks.

"Pssh, is that the best excuse you could come up with?" He was amused with his act.

"Do I need a reason?"

"No, you can keep your secret." His smile was ever so pretty.

Baekhyun learned Chanyeol was twenty six, a music major graduate that has been living in the cottage for about a month back and was going to stay there until the beginning of spring. Chanyeol had apparently received the cottage from his grandfather that lived in Marouva (one of the most populated cities) which was also where Chanyeol had been born and grown up in and that told Baekhyun a lot about his heritage. They were definitely more wealthy than the members of Baekhyun's village altogether.

*what would one do with such amount of money?* a stupid question to ask so he kept it for himself. 

"So, you are a singer?" Was what he went for instead.

"Ah, I'm a producer, but I do make my own records in my spare time."

"Can I hear some of it?"

"I'll have to think about it, I can't just let any stranger listen to my babies."

"Oh, I'm a stranger now?"

"We met yesterday and to be fair you haven't told me anything about yourself."

Baekhyun shut up at that. It was true, there was nothing he could deny.

"Okay then ask away." He gave in.

"Huh?"

"There must be a certain question on your mind, right?"

"I guess so... Your age?"

"Nineteen, I'll be twenty next year."

"You're...young."

"Yeah and you're old."

A vain became visible on Chanyeol's forehead, he refrained himself form talking back. He might be nice and all, but the brat was sassy. Twenty six is a mature age, no way is it old.

"Are you a student?"

"I illustrate, I dropped out after high school."

"That's fine, I'm sure your illustrations are magical."

"Stop exaggerating."

"Why, I think you like getting complimented." Chanyeol teases.

"I like genuine compliments, you haven't even seen my art yet, you faker." Baekhyun pouted.

"Light bearers are said to all have an inner talent."

The expression on Baekhyun's eyes made him regret saying anything.

"I forgot that you knew." He weakly said.

The atmosphere was overbearingly tense. Like they couldn't even breathe next to each other. Baekhyun gave him a murderous stare.

"If you've told anyone about me I swear in the name of the light goddess to...to"

Baekhyun's confidence went down the drain. He remembered his social status, his place on the pyramid. His place in the world was on his knees.

"I'll hang myself before you'll get to use any of me."


End file.
